59er debut at Alexandra Palace

The all new 59er, latest in the Bethwaite family's design range, will be the star of the Ovington Boats stand at the Sailboat and Windsurf Show this weekend at Alexandra Palace.

Along with the 59er will be designer Frank Bethwaite who will fly in from Sydney specially for the show. This is to reciprocate Dave Ovington flying out to Sydney at weekends to help with the design!

Frank will be at Sailboat mainly to promote his new boat but there will be a lot of people very keen to meet one of the most famous small boat designers in the world.

This two person sit-out dinghy is designed for the heavier crew that weigh between 145 and 180kg and want skiff performance and sailing thrill without the need to trapeze.

The new 59er is in 29er/49er skiff style layout and rig but with a deeper cockpit providing comfortable sit-in rather than stand-up sailing. Developed from the 29er and originally known as the 39er, the final production version has an overall length of 4.7m and a 2.0m beam with a hull weight of around 75kg - this powered by 14sq.m of sail area plus a masthead asymmetric spinnaker of 20.5sq.m.

In recent final test sailing on Sydney Harbour, Dave Ovington commented that the design was exactly what they were looking for, with performance in light winds for heavier crews and still managable in a blow with a lighter crew.

Ovington Boats will also be displaying the 29er, 49er, B14, Musto Skiff, MRX and the new Ovi10 Flying Fifteen, fitted out by Pinnel & Bax for one of their customers.

The new Ovi10 mould incorperates changes to the hull at station six and around the widest point to increase the water line length and provide faster upwind performance - seems that the Ovington stand will be the place to see and be seen.